Traffic increasing during stay-at-home order

LOS ANGELES - It’s the first time in history all Los Angeles County Beaches are closed.  So some people, fed up with quarantine, seem to be venturing from L.A. to Ventura and Orange Counties where they can still catch a wave, walk on the beach and enjoy the wildlife. 

“Pacific Coast Highway down south and the coastal routes up in Ventura County, there are definitely a lot more cars than there should be,” said Rick Dickert, who has been on top of traffic for FOX 11 for more than 20 years.

He is seeing a dramatic increase on our freeways.

“There’s been an uptick in collisions. You can start to see on our real-time traffic system some minor delays where there weren’t any just a couple weeks ago,” Dickert said.

Down the increasingly congested L.A. County coastline, stir-crazy rebels are sitting in the sun and seen going around a sand-dune barricade, aimed at stopping cyclists on the closed bike path. The foot and vehicular traffic in Redondo Beach is much of the same, more defying the order.

“The Esplanade is one of the most picturesque parts of the South Bay and during the weekend when the sun is out, it’s almost like the 405 here still,” said Dickert. “People are coming out when they shouldn’t be.”

The L.A. County beach closures are part of the stay-at-home order that was originally set to expire today but was extended to May 15th. The beaches will reopen once the order is lifted. 

“We live in California, there are going to be plenty of sunny days out,” said Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is also worried about people wandering to the mountains this weekend. “Typically it’s an elderly population that lives up there and they’re very isolated and they’re very close. So if a lot of people go up there to enjoy the summer day, we don’t want people bringing that virus up and then infecting that community. Care about the people around you more than you do yourself.”